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However the Democratic primary turns out, I’m grateful to both Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders for making increasing taxes on the wealthy a more prominent issue.
This one was fun to draw. The biggest drawing problem this strip presented was that three characters who had only been seen once each by the readers, would have to be recognizable as the same characters in the final panel. So a lot of thought went into the character design; each character had to have very distinctive head shapes and clothing, so that (hopefully) readers will be able to see that they’re the same characters in the final panel.
The last panel was especially fun to draw. Honestly, cartoony people freaking out is always fun to draw. (Bulge those eyeballs! Unhinge that jaw!) I also really enjoyed drawing the flowers in panel one, because they’re not the sort of thing I usually draw, and they came out well. (Drawing is always more fun when things come out well).
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TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON
This cartoon has five panels, plus a small “kicker” panel below the bottom of the final panel.
PANEL 1
This is a title panel, showing a sedate arrangement of flowers in front of a vase. That’s all just the background for the lettering, which says: “Another edifying episode of… Billionaires discuss Economics”
PANEL 2
A middle aged-man sits in a high-backed desk chair; there is a desk in front of him, with a laptop and a cup of coffee on a saucer. He’s reading a magazine called “Tax Dodge Monthly.” But at this moment he’s looked up from the magazine to address the viewer, smiling.
SEATED MAN: Giving poor people handouts creates a culture of dependency, so the best way to help is to give them nothing.
PANEL 3
A younger man, wearing glasses and a Yale tee shirt, stands on a tennis court, holding a tennis racket over one shoulder. He speaks to the reader, looking friendly.
TENNIS: My great-great-grandfather made a fortune busting unions and paying workers a pittance. And eventually I inherited that fortune! Why can’t poor people just do that?
PANEL 4
A middle-aged man, balding, with a neat, pointy beard just on his chin, speaks sternly to the readers, one forefinger raised as if making a point. He’s wearing a double-breasted blazer and a necktie. Next to him, his dog looks up at him calmly. Behind him is an enormous mansion with big pillars surrounding the door.
BEARD: I’m sorry some people can’t afford health care, but we can’t help everyone with every little problem. People need to toughen up.
PANEL 5
The three characters from the previous three panels are all in this panel, looking frightened and panicked.
SITTING MAN: A small tax increase on income over fifty million dollars? It’s highway robbery!
TENNIS: Where’s their compassion?
BEARD: Why don’t they care what happens to us?
SMALL KICKER PANEL BELOW THE BOTTOM OF THE STRIP
The “Beard” character from panel four is chewing out Barry, the cartoonist.
BEARD: This cartoon is yet another example of pervasive anti-billionaire bigotry!